Armen Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Amazons ----------------------------------------- Amazons Minerva--Roman Fierce warriors, they wielded spear and sword in defense of children and motherland. The ancient Greeks considered the Amazons their most fearsome opponents, defenders of an ancient woman-centered faith who had to be defeated that father-rule might prevail---so it is that Penthesilea leads her Amazons in defense of matriarchal Troy. It was the Greeks who named them "Amazon" from a-mazos, that is, "without a breast." And so the legend has come down to us of ferocious women warriors who cut off their right breast, that it not hinder their use of the bow; who fought and often defeated the greatest of the Greek heroes; and who finally retreated into the mist-enshrouded mountains of Anatolia and Armenia and Bactria as wave after wave of patriarchal warriors invaded their lands. ----------------------------------------- It is already for 5 or 6 years that this happens to me. Once I encounter a present day social phenomena I find its parallel in the ancient history. Just review the Greek myths again and you will find references to each and every hot issue debated today. Be it feminism, homosexuality etc. etc. The Greeks new about both feminism and homsexuality. I'm sure so did ancient Indians and Egyptians. You can say Amazons never existed. True, but the Greeks gave a concept, so they were familiar with this movement in society. So the movement of feminism started not in 1830 as some say but around 11 century BC and has gone into circles of increase and decrease during the course of history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anileve Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Actually that reminds me of the Spartans. Women were allowed to own a property and voice political views. The first female Olympic champion was a Spartan princess called Kynisca, in 392 BC. She was also the first woman to become a champion horse trainer when her horses and chariot competed and won in the Ancient Olympic Games. Although she wasn’t crowned as the winner officially by the king, so she decided to have a statue build to honor her victory and remind others of the achievement of a first woman to win the chariot race. Also since Spartans were always in training, they were often away from the female population thus influencing their behavior towards women. So when a Spartan was to be married a ritual would be enforced to slowly gravitate a militant towards a married life and an acceptance of women. Since most of the Spartans practiced homosexuality. This ritual would last for days and months. A new bride would have her hair cut very short to resemble that of a young boy. She then would be dressed in male clothes for their first wedding night. A groom after the wedding would return to the military camp and only when the night falls would sneak into the room of the bride and mount her from behind. After the romantic encounter he would flee back to the “barracks.” This was specifically intended to slowly introduce a military mind to the idea of a marriage and a female body. Being that the particular approach is what they have been used to spending most their life bonding with men. Interesting huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted January 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Yes, it is very interesting. So, who are the Spartans of nowadays? They resemble Taliban and alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.